The summer after his freshman year, Raj Hathiramani ’07 went to Japan with Princeton in Ishikawa to take intensive language courses with professors from top American universities and live with a Japanese family. As a senior, he took up Chinese and made plans to spend the summer after graduation in China.

Hathiramani says his friends tried to talk him out of starting a whole new language his senior year, but the way he saw it, “When else was I going to have a chance to study Chinese at such a level?” He wanted to get the most out of Princeton while he still could.

Languages ended up not being Hathiramani’s focus. Nor was English, history or public affairs, which is what the Englewood Cliffs, N.J., native thought might be candidates for his concentration. In his sophomore year, he took an introductory course in statistics and probability, and that’s what hooked him on his current direction. He decided to major in operations research and financial engineering, solving complex real-world problems through higher math.

Those are the skills he uses today. Hathiramani went to work for Citadel Asset Management in London, analyzing European and emerging market financial companies. “We meet with management on a regular basis, as well as regulatory and policy decision making bodies, to help with our investment decisions.”

The most rewarding experiences in Hathiramani’s last two years at Princeton came through his role as a residential community adviser in Wilson College, he says. These advisers live with freshmen and sophomores and serve as counselors and knowledgeable friends.

Hathiramani says being an adviser was the most time-consuming yet rewarding activity he did at Princeton. “You’re really in a position to help students enjoy their Princeton experience and get the most out of it,” he says.

Hathiramani says he took a very active role as an adviser, planning fun and engaging activities like a diversity party, lunch discussions with professors, multicultural dance performances and movie screenings followed by group discussions.

Cultural diversity is important for Hathiramani, who was a proud member of Naacho, an Indian dance troupe at Princeton. The troupe consistently sells out all four of its spring performances and is a popular staple at international events around campus. “Being an ethnic group and getting that type of recognition from a global community is very inspiring,” Hathiramani says.

Hathiramani also wrote extensively for the student newspaper and gave Orange Key campus tours and engineering-school tours to prospective students and visitors.

“The tours gave me a chance to reflect on why I was there and to give back to the University,” says Hathiramani. “It was a chance to share my perspective and show visitors that this is a special place with incredible peers and faculty.”